Apples, Wayward Chickens and a Kerchief

Just before the first frost, we visited a nearby orchard to gather the last of the season’s apples. We left with a basketful of granny smith apples and a few pumpkins for baking and carving.

Pounds of apples! Now they cover every free space of our kitchen counter. In the next few weeks, they will be used for pie, galettes, and apple sauce.

Daniel and I discussed, as we do in the autumn when there is surplus to be put by, how we could benefit from a root cellar. Our cellar, cool but very damp would not function as a root cellar without some serious work. I can’t help but wonder, in our home’s 120 something years, if produce has ever been stored there. There is a room with a wooden door that I think would have been ( or could be) perfect for a root cellar.

When I am standing down there I imagine jars of food lined up on the walls, crates of root vegetables neatly stacked, waiting. I wonder, I speculate. I want to ask the old brick and wood foundation my questions, and I want it to whisper back to me all of its secrets.

Lena, above, is one of our Silver Laced Polish chickens. She is most unusual in that she does not really act like a chicken. She will wonder about by herself all day, and when it is evening and all the chickens are heading back to the coop she will simply lie down and fall asleep wherever she is. Ingrid, another Silver Laced chicken, has taken to flying up on the chicken coop roof instead of just going inside it.

These little wayward chickens have made evening chores, well, a real chore! Daniel and I have to be sure to head outside when there is still sunlight to find all the missing chickens and get them home safe. Of course, sometimes we can’t find them and that has led to walking around in the dark with a headlamp on. We do like our chickens, and like them best alive and well. Goodness.

I suspect we will have more chicken tomfoolery in our future!

I finished knitting my kerchief! It is quite big so I can wear it to cover my face and chest or over my shoulders as a shawl.